


Light in the Void

by i_am_a_small_potato



Category: Homestuck
Genre: F/M, Flushed Romance | Matesprits, Pale Romance | Moirallegiance, Pre-Canon, Rare Pairings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-12
Updated: 2014-11-12
Packaged: 2018-02-25 01:46:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,197
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2604074
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/i_am_a_small_potato/pseuds/i_am_a_small_potato
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Before Sgrub, before the world ends, Vriska and Equius spend some time as neighbors.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Light in the Void

“Equiuuuuuuuus!” Vriska cries, running across the narrow bridge to your hive. Sobs wrack her frame, though her eyes are void of tears. “I—” sob “hurt—” sob “my—” sob “kneeeeeeee!”  
  
You sigh. “Again?” She runs over to you and holds her knee out for inspection. You bend over, already quite a bit taller than her at two sweeps. The knee is in fact quite bloodied, coming from a deep cut surrounded by cerulean blood. She isn’t sobbing at all now that she has your attention. “What happened?”  
  
“I tripped down the stairs,” she states, rather matter-of-factly considering how much she had been blubbering a moment ago.  
  
“I did try to warn you about the stairs, Vriska,” you say, shaking your head. Even so, you lead her into your hive and then to your room before fetching a damp cloth. You hold it to her knee, trying to stop the bleeding as well as clean up the cut a bit. After a little while, the bleeding stops, and you put a healing safety strip around the area. “There,” you say. “Is that better?”  
  
Vriska’s lip quivers again. Which, you reason, means she wants something else. “A little. Can you kiss it for me, Equius?”  
  
“What?” you say, starting to sweat profusely. “That is ridiculous, why would I do such a thing?”  
  
She shrugs. “I heard it’s something that people do when someone else gets hurt, and it’s supposed to make them feel better.” You start to protest heatedly. It just sounded so lewd. But then she smiles so sweetly, innocently, and as you peer into her eyes your protests turn into a splutter, then finally into a resigned sigh.  
  
“Fine,” you say, and, gently as possible, you kiss her knee. “Is it better now?”  
  
“Not really,” she answered hesitantly. “But thanks for trying, I guess.” She smiles again and you shiver a little.  
  
“The pleasure was mine,” you say, starting to perspire heavily but unsure why.

* * * *

“Equius, come on, you’re taking foreeeeeeeever,” Vriska calls, four sweeps old, voice echoing in the walls of the cave you are exploring. She had first found this cave in a cliff near the ocean with some heavy debris blocking the entrance, which she couldn’t move. So, naturally, she went to her strong next-door-neighbor with pleas for assistance.  
  
“I still think this idea is completely ludicrous,” you say, uneasy as you gaze around the cavern. “There are probably numerous seadwellers lurking in here, and they certainly won’t take kindly to our explorations.”  
  
“Relaaaaaaaax, Equius, we’ll be fi—” A blast of light hits the rocks right above her head. You note with some admiration that she does not scream, just ducks, pulls out her octet and tosses them in a single, fluid, graceful motion (you can feel yourself start to perspire). The roll was a lucky one and it takes out half of the seadwellers lining the cave in front of you. A moment later, a third of those remaining are knocked out cold, with you standing in their midst. This distracts the rest for moment; however one of them quickly recovers and shoots an arrow in Vriska’s direction. Your first thought is that it isn’t fair how easily he shot that arrow, and your second thought is he just shot at Vriska. She dodges it easily, though, laughing, and jumping right into another arrow fired a second later by another seadweller. Her laugh turns into a gasp as the arrow pierces her side.

You panic for a moment, full of fear, and then rage. You grab the seadweller who fired the shot and throw him into the rest, knocking some of them over and some of them out, while the rest retreat deeper into the cave. As your anger begins to abate, your mind switches to worry as you turn to Vriska. Vriska looks at you, smirking. “That was quiiiiiiiite the show, Equius,” she says. “I’m not sure whether to be flattered to know how much you care or insulted that you think I can’t handle a little scratch. Come on Equius, I’m not a wriggler anymore.”  
  
Mildly reassured and extremely embarrassed, you bend over to examine the wound anyway. It appears to have just grazed the skin, nothing more. “Of course, I was being silly,” you say, frowning. A dagger flies past your chin. “However, I must recommend that we leave at once.” More violet bloods are storming the cave every second, and every single one is armed and snarling. “Vriska we must leave at once.”  
  
“Nah, we can take ‘em.” Vriska is grinning viciously and gathering her dice for another roll.  
  
“Vriska, this is extraordinarily foalish, I mean, foolish, we are clearly outnumbered and we should leave immediately.”  
  
“You’re no fun, Equius. I’m telling you we can take them! Imagine what sweet loot is hidden in this cave! They’re just begging for us to kick them out and take it,” Vriska says, smiling with all her teeth so that now it is much more of a grimace.  
  
You frown. “As much as I distrust and detest the sea dwellers, their violet blood clearly outranks our blue. I cannot in good conscience kill all of these trolls.”  
  
“Whateeeeeeeever. I don’t need you; I’ll just kill them myself. Bring it, fish faces!”  
  
You sigh heavily and, knowing you can’t just leave her to defend herself, especially not wounded, you go and stand beside Vriska with your fists raised in your familiar fighting stance. She grins. “I knew you couldn’t stay away. Let’s go kick some violet butt,” she said grinning.

* * * *

Later, the two of you sit back in your hive, surrounded by robot parts and piles of treasure. Vriska’s side had been safely bandaged and you share a celebratory bottle of milk. “To victory!” she cries, slurring her speech a little (you saw her slip something in the milk bottle but after everything that just happened decide not to question it too much). “May it never, I mean, always happen to us, and not to all those,” she pauses for a second trying to find the right word. “Other guys,” she finishes proudly. Maybe you shouldn’t have let her drink quite so much milk. You clink glasses anyway and both of them shatter.  
  
“Fiddlesticks,” you say, blushing.  
  
“Ahhh, it’s ok Equi- hic- Equius!” she stutters. “Don’t be crying over sp-spilled milk.” After which she starts laughing hysterically. You sigh.  
  
“You’re not in any fit shape to go home. Why don’t you spend the day here?” you insist.  
  
She stops laughing and just looks at you, raising her eyebrows. “Why, Mr. Zahhak, are you trying to get me to share a recuper-hic-acoon with you?” Which makes you sweat and splutter and oh out of towels already better go grab some more, which you do after informing her you have a spare recuperacoon which she can keep to herself.  
  
You help her up the stairs, which she can’t seem to handle at the moment. After leaving her to her room you go to leave her be, but not before she gives you hug and whispers in your ear, “Don’t ever be ashamed of your strength, Equius. You’re not you without it and if other people don’t- hic!- like it, they can deal because you can beat them up anyway.” She laughs again and keeps an arm around you while using the other one to gesture at the world around her. “You kn- hic- you know, people are always going to be jealous of your greatness.” She now turns and pokes you hard in your chest with every syllable. “Don’t let that stop you. You deserve better. You’re a preeeeeeeetty cool guy, Equius.” Then she just starts laughing hysterically again and sends you on your way.

* * * *

The doorbell rings. You are busy improving a killbot so Aurthour answers the door. There’s a slight scuffle, probably just your lusus trying to deter the intruder. He knows you don’t like visitors when you’re working; he’s just considerate like that. A minute later, however, Vriska is standing in the doorway.  
  
“Vriska?” you inquire. “To what do I owe—” You stop, because she’s shaking. And there are cerulean droplets swimming in her eyes, but she seems to be trying to keep them in. You are confused and concerned; Vriska never cries. She is much too STRONG for that. “Vriska, what is the matter?” You gesture for her to take a seat in a pile of robot parts, a little embarrassed for not having proper seating. She sits down anyway, a little awkwardly. Vriska just seems sort of out of place in general at the moment.  
  
“It- it’s nothing,” she says at first, hesitantly and uncomfortably. “Well, it should be nothing. But it’s not. It’s just… I met someone while FLARPing. A teal-blood. And, I liked him. A lot. He was nice to me, but really cool at the same time, like not wimpy or anything like all the other losers I meet while FLARPing. I was going to just kill him right away like I do with everyone else, but, but he smiled at me and I felt kind of warm inside. We started talking and then we sparred a little. It was an awesome conversation, made even better by the fact that he had some awesome fighting moves I’m totally going to steal the next time I battle someone. I – I think I was flushed for him.” She stopped for a moment and looked at you, a little nervous but also daring you to say something about her feelings. You just frowned a little in thought and gestured for her to go on.  
  
“We did a couple quests together and parted ways, agreeing to FLARP together again sometime. So later, we meet up again, right? And I’m happy because I finally found a non-loser to FLARP with who I could relate with. But then, he turns to me and says, ‘I hope you don’t mind, but I brought my matesprit with me this time.’ That’s when I first gave attention to the ugly little jade blood standing next to him. And they just smiled at me and then each other and started making out a little, even though I was right there. Like seriously? On top of everything they couldn’t wait five minutes to start macking it up? I could tell it wasn’t hatesnogging, either. That was clearly all pity.  
  
“When they finally got off each other and actually looked at me, the little jade blood must’ve seen I was about to kill her because she told her matesprit she would ‘let him work this out’ and then come back. So then she leaves, and he has the gall to strike up a conversation like nothing happened. How dare he lead me on like that? Let me tell you, nobody leads on Vriska Serket. Nobody. I was so angry I made him jump off a cliff and then fed his wrangled body to my lusus. That’ll show him or anyone to mess with my feelings…”  
  
She trails off and an angry sob bursts out. She looks so angry with herself, and you’re not sure if it’s for what the troll did, what she did, or the fact that she was crying to begin with in front of someone else. Probably all three.  
As her story progressed you could feel your blood-pusher start to ache a little. All you can think is that she had flushed feelings for someone else and she’s only at your hive because you are convenient to talk to about it. You’ve never really admitted to yourself that you have flushed feelings for her before, but now you’re thinking about it and it hurts. However, you don’t want to be rude and you certainly don’t want her to be upset. So you sigh and tell her what she wants to hear.  
  
“Anyone who treats you like that deserves to be thrown off a cliff. It was quite rude of that troll to treat you in the manner that he did. He should have made it clear that his flushed quadrant was not available, and he certainly shouldn’t have rubbed it in your face like that. You can’t be blamed for showing him the error of his ways.”  
  
She perks up a little bit. “Yeah… yeah, that’s right. It was completely his fault; the jerk had it coming to him.” She still looks upset, though she is trying to pretend otherwise. Then she walks over to where you’re sitting and cuddles up next to you.  
  
“Thanks for trying, I guess,” she whispers, nuzzling into your side. You tense up, starting to sweat a bit and hating yourself for it. “Thanks for being there for me,” she whispers again, looking up at you, and suddenly you start to get a horrible suspicion. The pile, the venting, the cuddling; suddenly you feel awful at the thought of pale infidelity so you clear your throat.  
  
“Um, Vriska, you, you do know I already have a moirail right? And we are quite content with our relationship and this situation seems a bit paler than I feel comfortable with.” You gulp as she pulls away and lets out a slight hiss.  
  
“You think I’m trying to make pale advances toward you? I already have a moirail too, idiot! I wanted to talk to you because- because…” She can’t seem to force out the rest of the sentence. “You know what? Forget about it. It was stupid of me to think that you actually cared about me and my pathetic problems. Sorry to bother you; it won’t happen again,” she says bitterly, and storms out of the room.  
  
“Vriska, wait,” you say, but it’s too late. You are really confused. Her telling you about her problems and looking for comfort and advice, that was a pale thing right? But the cuddling could have been something besides pale. Sure, Nepeta cuddles with you all the time, but that was just her character. Vriska didn’t seem like the kind of person who cuddles with just anyone, and you feel warmth before being swept back by a pool of confusion.  
  
You need a feelings jam right away.

* * * *

The next night you are sitting with Nepeta in a pile at her hive.  
“So what’s going on, Equius?” she inquires, facing you in the pile.  
  
“It is a problem with Vriska, actually. I – she came over to my hive yesterday evening. She was upset about killing a troll she was flushed for, and she came over to talk to me about it.”  
  
She nods thoughtfully. “Okay. What happened next?”  
  
“Well, I was upset because—” you stop. “We ended up arguing because I thought she was making pale advances towards me. She thought that was stupid and that I didn’t care about her, so she left.”  
  
“Were you upset because she was flushed fur somepawdy else?” she asks with an understanding smile.  
  
You hesitate and she gives you a look. You can’t lie to your moirail even if you would prefer to lie to yourself. “Yes,” you reply.  
  
She jumps up and squeals something about updating her shipping wall, but then sees the look on your face and sits back down. “So Vriskers was sure that she wasn’t pale fur you?”  
  
You nod. “She was quite insistent.” You pause. “There’s one more thing. She sat on my pile with me and – started to cuddle.”  
  
Nepeta gaped. “What? She cuddled? But Vriskers doesn’t really seem like the kind of troll who ever cuddles.” She pauses. “Mewbe she’s in pale denial? Or mewbe she’s flushed fur you too, Equius!”  
  
You frown. “She can’t be, Nepeta. She came over to my hive to tell me she was flushed for someone else.” She sticks her tongue out at you.  
  
“Mewbe she just wanted to see what your reaction would be if she mentioned another troll?”  
  
“You think Vriska wanted to see if I was jealous?” You pause for a moment. That did seem like something Vriska would do. It was a possibility anyway, even if it wasn’t necessarily probable. “She seemed to be in pain though, so I think she really did have feelings for the other troll.”  
  
“She didn’t go to her meowrail about it though. She went to you! And she didn’t mention any purroblems between herself and Kanaya did she?” You shake your head. “Then she didn’t want to talk to her. She wanted to talk to someone else she mew cared about her, more than that other troll did.” She smiled at you.  
  
You think for a minute. “Fiddlesticks. Do you think I should approach her about this?”  
  
She thinks too. “I think you should give her some time to cool off, and then talk to her about your feelings later.”  
  
“But what if she does not reciprocate?” You shudder, thinking of the embarrassment that would put the two of you through. You might not be able to speak to her again, and you’re not sure if you could bear that.  
  
She smiles at you. “Why wouldn’t she reciprocate, Equius? You’re a wonderful troll. And if she can’t see that than she doesn’t deserve you anyway.”  
  
You smile back at her and she snuggles into your side. You have the best moirail. It is her.

* * * *

You pace nervously. You’ve given Vriska a few nights to cool off and you’re getting ready to troll her. Every time you sit down and move your mouse to click on her trolltag, though, you start to sweat and get a burst of energy that refuses to let you sit at the computer. You go wrestle a few robots and come back to your computer, and the process repeats. Finally you sigh, grab a fresh stack of towels from Aurthour, and sit down at your computer, resolving not to get up until you’ve told Vriska how you feel.

\-- centaursTesticle [CT]  began trolling arachnidsGrip [AG] \--

CT: D--> Hello Vriska   
AG: Heeeeeeeey Equius.  
CT: D--> I just wanted to  
CT: D--> Apologize  
CT: D--> For possibly upsetting you the other day  
AG: Psh I don’t care. It was stupid of me to go to you a8out that in the first place, soooooooo yeah. Sorry.  
CT: D--> It wasn’t a problem for me  
CT: D--> But about what you said  
CT: D--> Were you really flushed for the teal blood  
AG: Well yeah, duh. I was obviously upset a8out killing him, remember? But I don’t care anymore, he’s ancient history.  
AG: Why do you ask?  
CT: D--> Oh no reason  
  
You cluckbeast.

AG: Are you suuuure?  
CT: D--> Yes  
AG: Are you really suuuuuuuure?  
CT: D--> Yes  
AG: Well okay then! I’m glad we cleared that up.  
CT: D--> Indeed  
CT: D--> I am as well  
AG: Is there anything else you wanted to talk a8out or was that it? As much as I enjoy our little talks I’m a8out to go on a FLARPing escapade.   
CT: D--> Oh no there isn’t anything else and I wouldn’t want to keep you from your  
CT: D--> Er  
CT: D--> FLARPing  
CT: D--> However it was e%eptionally nice being able to speak with you again Vriska  
AG: I know!  
AG: Maybe if I’m feeling in a good mood we can do it again sometime :::;)  
CT: D--> Yes  
CT: D--> I w00ld like that  
CT: D--> Goodbye  
AG: L8ter!  
\-- arachnidsGrip [AG]  ceased trolling centaursTesticle [CT] \--

CT: D--> And stay safe  
* * * *

You talk to her more after that. But you never seem to be able to tell her how you feel. How much you admire her STRONG desire never to give in to anybody. How intelligent and confident she is. How her dark hair dances when she reaches for a kill shot. Not that you watch her when she FLARPs or anything. The more you talk with her the more you feel you can feel yourself go red for her.  
  
You like to think you don’t make it obvious, but you would also like to think that she reciprocates, at least a little. Nepeta gives you grief for not telling her, but somehow it never seems like the right time. But over time, you can feel her start to drift away from you. It’s almost like she’s outgrown you, her protector, who was there for her if she scraped her knee or if she needed help looting a pirate cave. This distance saddens you but you don’t know what you can do to stop it. Vriska is independent and wouldn’t do well with a clingy troll, not that you would ever degrade yourself to such a position. So you just watch and wait as your next-door-neighbor seems to move farther and farther away from you.

* * * *

It’s almost morning when the knock comes. Aurthour is on the other side of the hive cleaning so you answer the door.  
There are no tears to be seen this time, fake ones or real. If there were, they would just blend in with the cerulean blood splattering her face where her left eye used to be. But now, she doesn’t look sad, just weary. She’s leaning against the doorframe for support, blood drenching her side and still slowly trickling from the place where her left arm used to be. She looks up at you.  
  
“Hey, Equius,” she says softly, smiles, and drops. You pause for a moment in shock, and then just shake your head, sigh, and pick her up gently and carry her back into your hive. You bring her into the bathroom and set her down in the bathtub. You get to work, first binding her arm so that she can’t bleed out anymore and holding a cloth to her eye.  
  
Next you gingerly begin to clean the blood off her, touching her as little and as lightly as you can. You barely breathe while cleaning her eye. She needs a new shirt for sure but you value your life too much to change it for her. You carry her up to your guest recuperacoon (usually reserved for Nepeta) and place her inside, clothes and all, leaving an extra pair of clothes (Nepeta’s, the largest you could find) outside of it. You proceed back downstairs to clean the blood off the floors and the bathroom, but Aurthour is already working on it. You give him a grateful smile and he gives you a knowing look in return. You now return to your room, strip, and climb inside the welcoming slime of your recuperacoon. It’s been a long night.

* * * *

When you wake up the next evening you can hear the shower running. You’re confused for a moment. Nepeta didn’t spend the day, did she? And then you remember. You bolt out of your ‘coon, clean the slime off yourself the best you can with your stack of towels, put on your typical shorts, shades, and t-shirt and go downstairs. You really don’t think Vriska is in proper shape to be standing in a shower for an extended period of time, but of course she isn’t going to let a few missing appendages stop her from showering if she wants to shower. You think about asking her if she needs help but start to blush and perspire at the very thought.  
  
You just end up eating your breakfast next to the door, ready to assist if she calls. A short time later she comes staggering out in a baggy black t-shirt with a green symbol and pants that are more like capris on her. “Hello,” you say, and she jumps.  
  
“Don’t scare me like that Equius,” she hisses, and leans against the doorway. You stand up to assist her but she refuses at first.  
  
“Vriska, you lost a lot of blood, it would be completely absurd to resist help right now.” She sighs and leans against you as you put your arm around her waist for support. Just for support, you tell yourself. “Do you want something to eat?” you ask, and she nods, so you lead her to the kitchen and fix something up for her. She eats like it’s been sweeps since she’s last seen food, but given the amount of blood she lost this doesn’t surprise you. When she finishes you both sit in silence for a minute. She hasn’t told you how she got those wounds, and you don’t want to press her. She’ll tell you when she’s ready. “How are you feeling?” you ask.  
  
“Lovely,” she says, smirking. “Never been better.” But then her smirk falters for a second, and it isn’t at all condescending when she looks you in the eye and says, “Thanks for taking care of me, Equius.” Then she gives a reluctant smile and you think the room just got a lot brighter. “I mean it.”  
  
Suddenly you want to do something nice for her. Not just take care of her, because really, not taking care of her was never an option. No, you wanted to do something particularly kind because nobody else ever did. She lived a life hating many and being hated by many. But not all.  
  
You look around the room as if this will give you inspiration as to what to do. It does, though, surprisingly, when you see a spare robot leg on the floor. Of course, that’ll be what you’ll do that. You glance over at Vriska again. She’s frowning at you and you realize you never responded to her before. “The pleasure is all mine.” You smile too. “Really.” You think for a moment. “Why don’t you spend a few more nights here while you’re still recovering?” Before she can scowl at the implied dependency you cut in, “I don’t doubt that you’re STRONG enough to be on your own but I would feel much more comfortable if you were here where I could keep an eye on you. Especially considering the lusus that you have.”  
  
“Why would you worry about me?” The look she’s giving you is intense but it isn’t mean, per se. It is daring; you think she already knows the answer but she wants you to say it. You answer it with a look that you try to make just as serious, but also tender, and you guess it worked, or perhaps it was too tender, because Vriska draws back in surprise.  
“I’ll stay, then, if it’ll make you feel better. Consider it payment for taking care of me; I’ll let you spend more time in my presence.” She winks at you and smiles mischievously and you can’t help but think how she – oh yes you need another towel.  
  
Despite her kind offer you don’t spend much time in her presence over the next few days besides checking her bandages and making sure she eats. You are busy in your workshop. Sometimes she tries to approach, but after catching your eye seems to think better of it and leaves.  
  
Three nights later, it’s finished. You think you should probably wrap it up, but the only wrapping paper you have is from last Twelfth Perigee’s Eve. You can’t use that, so you just end up getting aluminum foil and wrapping it in that. You grab a bow from somewhere and stick it on, and walk to the guest bedroom where Vriska is staying.  
  
She’s reading a book about fine art and she looks a little bit like she’s about to be sick (you’re not sure why; nothing relaxes you more than gazing at pictures of finely sculpted musclebeasts). At the sound of your approach she looks up and tosses the book to the side. You wince a little it at the mistreatment of such fine art but continue walking nonetheless. You smile.  
  
“Hello, Vriska. I hope you’re doing well.” She eyes the package suspiciously.  
  
“So you’ve decided to grace me with your presence at last?” she asks mockingly. “And I’d be much better if there was something decent to read here.” Her tone is condescending, but you don’t mind. “It’s all musclebeasts and robotics around here.”  
  
You smile and laugh because she must be joking, nobody can dislike musclebeasts, and she’ll probably be changing her mind about robotics in a minute. You tell her so and hand her the package. “A present? For meeeeeeee? Why Equius you shouldn’t have. By shouldn’t have I mean totally should have because I love presents.” Thankfully she says nothing about the wrap job; she just grins and rips away the aluminum foil. Inside there lay a robotic arm.  
  
A small gasp broke out of Vriska as she looked at the arm, and then at you. You just smile and nod. She looks at the arm again almost cautiously, like this could be a trick. She experimentally runs a finger down the side, and the metal seems to shiver in response. “Equius,” she whispers, and gazes up at you, almost in awe and, oh yes there is definitely admiration there too. You grab a towel.  
  
“If you like it I can attach it as soon as you wish. It will take a bit of adjusting, but I think you’ll find that in time your body will accept the arm so that it works just as well as your old one, and perhaps even better. I programmed it so that it has the same nerve workings and—”  
  
You’re cut off by Vriska’s mouth pressed firmly against yours. You’re shocked but not about to protest, so you kiss back with all the tenderness and intensity that she does. When you finally break away, she leans her head into your chest and whispers to you, a little breathily, “Why? Why would you do this for me? You didn’t have to do that.”  
  
“Because,” you reply, gently wrapping your arms around her neck and cupping her neck, a little out of breath yourself, “I think you’re wonderful and that it’s about time someone did something kind for you to prove it.” You look down and see that her eyes are shining up at you, brimming with tears.  
  
“You know,” she whispers, “you’re the only troll I’ve ever let myself cry in front of? I trust you, I always have. No one else has ever seen me be weak, not even Kanaya.”  
  
You shake your head, forehead brushing against hers. “I don’t think you’re weak, Vriska, nor have you ever been weak. I think you’re STRONG, perhaps the strongest troll I’ve ever met. You keep going even when it seems hopeless. That’s real strength, Vriska, and I think- I think it looks good on you,” you say, ending a little lamely and fumbling your words a little because this is something you never thought you would ever have the nerve to say out loud.  
  
She laughs a little. “Do you have any idea how cheesy that sounded?” You look down, blushing. “I like it though. And I think I like you too.” She catches your eye and pulls your face down to kiss again.  
  
“You know,” she said after breaking apart again, “This would be a lot easier if I had another arm.”  
  
You smile. Broadly. “I think that can be arranged,” you reply, and take her by the arm to escort her downstairs. Hopefully you won’t have to let go for a very long time.


End file.
